Chapter 26

On the flight back, Martin was morose, and Stefan distracted. At least until Denton decided to try out the shower, and got everyone in with him. He decided that ten was probably the maximum it could handle for a comfortable orgy. After that both Stefan and Martin were in better spirits.

The drive was quiet, but it was a quiet of peace, rather than discomfort. Denton was behind Martin when he opened the door in the garage leading to the house.

"Martin, is that you?" a woman called from deeper in the house. Martin frowned, and Denton followed him to the living room, where a cougar was getting out of her seat.

"Tess?" Martin asked, "what are you doing here?"

"It's time for the examination," She answered.

"Already?" He placed a hand on her stomach.

"It's been three month." Her voice was soft.

Martin smiled at her, then turned. "Dent, I'd like you to meet Tessa, my wife. Tess, this is a new friend of mine, Denton."

Denton stared at them. Martin was married?

"It's please to meet you," she said, extending her hand.

Denton looked at it, then at her, then at Martin. He was married?

"Denton, are you alright?" Martin asked.

"You broke him," Colby said as he walked by on his way to the kitchen.

"You're married?" Denton finally said. Feeling his legs about to give out he sat in the nearest seat. "God's balls," he muttered. He looked at Tessa, "I'm really sorry, I didn't know. He never said anything about being married."

Tessa just stared at him for a moment then chuckled. "My dear, I know very well he's gay. I know he's slept with everyone here. I'm quite aware how things are done within the Society."

"But you're married."

"That's to ensure the there aren't any question as to who his father will be." She placed a hand on her stomach and smiled at him.

Martin wrapped an arm around Tessa. "It wouldn't do for little Benny to wonder who his father is."

She punched his chest, none too softly. "Martin, how many time do I have to tell you there is no way we are naming him 'Benny'. He's going to have a proper name. He's going to be named 'Esteban'."

"If you say so dear," Martin replied once he caught his breath.

"But you got married?" Denton said again. "Don't you love each other?"

The cougars looked at one another. "No," they answered.

Denton stared at them. He closed his eyes for a moment. "Okay, give me a minute here. I know you guys do things differently when it comes to relationships, but I've been raised to have reverence for marriage."

Her jaw dropped. "Oh My. Martin, I'm sorry, I didn't know. I thought he was part of the Society." She had a worried look on her face.

"He is," Martin reassured her.

"He is? but I didn't think you could bring someone in from the outside."

"He was born to the Society, but things got complicated after that."

"Okay, so you have a kid. do you have any more?" Denton's head was reeling. He hadn't considered Martin might be a father.

"He's going to be our first." Martin said. "of maybe two dozen. I figure that'll take care of my fatherly duties to the Society."

"Martin," She warned.

Martin placed a hand over his side. "In all seriousness, we're going to wait until he's born to see if we have more, but four is the most we've agreed to have."

"You already know he'd going to be a boy? I thought you were in your first trimester."

Martin chuckled. "We only have boys."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. So will you."

"No." Denton raised a hand. "We're not going there. I've already had that conversation with your father. Not again."

"Denton," Martin started, but Tess put a hand on his.

"Leave him be, Martin. It has to be his decision, it can't be forced on him."

Martin looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn't.

Denton looked to the lions, snuggled together on the couch. "How about you two? You have any kids?"

"No," Fred answered.

"Although I expect next time we go home, dad will have a few women picked out for us to choose from."

"You don't sound like you're interested," Denton said.

"It's not like that," Fred replied. "We want kids, just not right now. Once we have one, dad's going to want us to stay home to help raise them. So no more spending time here with the guys?"

"Where's home? I'm sure you can still drop by."

"Kenya," Frank said.

Denton stared. "But you're English's perfect."

Frank chuckled. "Dad made sure we had a proper international education. I can speak French and Chinese. Fred speaks German, Hindu and Dutch."

"Cairo is home for me," Bruce said, "and I have three little ones there."

"Already?" Denton had trouble believing that "you're just twenty-two, right?"

"Yes. it's traditional in my family to get three women pregnant as soon as we're done with the Ceremony of Dominance. It ensures that whatever else might happen to me afterward, I leave descendants."

Bruce shook his head. "No, that's their mother's duty. I do visit a few times a year, so they know I'm their father, but until the Ceremony of Vitality, I'm not expected to take part in rearing them."

Denton looked around, but couldn't see Stefan. "How about Colby?"

"Not as far as I know," Martin said.

Denton nodded. This was going to be something else to wrap his mind around. Them having kids. How was he going to feel about having sex here with kids running around. This situation had better be resolved before that. If he had to dodge kids, he was going to throw himself off the roof.

He stood. "Well, I hope you'll forgive me, but I'm going to go lie down for a bit. I didn't get much rest on the flight back." He knew that was a poor excuse, but he figured he should give Martin and Tess some time on their own.

He went up the stairs, but didn't go to his room. He went to Stefan's. He knocked on the door, and it opened slightly. He heard the shower running. "Stefan," he called lightly, before entering the bedroom.

He went to the attached bathroom. The door was opened, and the shower didn't have a door. Stefan was under the jet, not moving.

"Stefan?" he called.

The collie straightened, and rubbed the water off his face. "Dent?"

"Are you okay?" He entered the bathroom.

"What? oh, yeah, sure. I just needed a break from everyone else after the trip, and to wash up."

"Are you done?"

Stefan smiled. "Yeah, I guess I am." He shut the water down.

Denton grabbed a towel and dried him. When he was dry, he pulled him to the bed, undressed and lay down next to him. "What happened when we left you at the Orr's place?"

"Nothing," Stefan answered. "We had sex, that's all."

It wasn't, Denton could tell something had happened. Stefan had been distance for most of the flight, and he'd gone off on his own as soon as they got home. That wasn't like the collie.

He wrapped his arms around Stefan. "I know something happened." He kissed the back of his neck. "You don't have to tell me if you're not ready, but I want you to know that You're my friend. Whenever you're ready, I'll be there to listen."